ESPN Online recently published rankings of FBS head coaches who were former football players in college and among the rankings were Millikin University alumni Jeff Monken '89, head football coach at Army, and Chuck Martin '90, head football coach at Miami of Ohio.
Monken, a member of the Millikin class of 1989, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant football coach at the University of Hawaii during the 1989-90 season. After earning his master's degree in higher educational administration there in 1991, Monken served as a graduate assistant wide receivers coach at Arizona State University for one season and assistant coach for the wide receivers and tight ends and recruiting coordinator at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1992-94.
After a brief stint coaching at Morton High School in Berwyn, Ill., and at Concordia University in River Forest, Ill., Monken coached slotbacks and punters at Georgia Southern from 1997-2001. In 2002, Monken became slotbacks coach for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Monken was slotbacks coach and special teams coordinator for Georgia Tech from 2008-10.
He returned to Georgia Southern in 2010 as head football coach. His 31 victories in three seasons rank first in the Southern Conference and second nationally. He was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year and American Football Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year in 2011. Under his direction, Georgia Southern earned national semifinal appearances in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
As a Millikin student, Monken was a wide receiver on the football team. He also lettered twice in track and was co-captain of the 1989 track team.
While attending Millikin (1986-90), Chuck Martin was an All-American safety and was selected as a GTE Academic All-American. He doubled as an All-American place kicker, received Academic All-District honors for the Millikin baseball team and was inducted into the Millikin Hall of Fame in 2008.
He graduated in 1990 with a degree in accounting and earned his master's degree in physical education from Mankato State University in 1993.
Prior to joining Miami, Martin spent four seasons at Notre Dame, serving as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2012-13) and defensive backs/recruiting coordinator (2010-11). Martin was head coach and offensive coordinator for Grand Valley State University (GVSU) from 2004-2009 and compiled a 74-7 (.914) record.
Chuck Martin was named the 36th head football coach in Miami history on Dec. 3, 2013.
Click here to read more in an article from ESPN Online.